Means for securing hanks.



Patented July 2, l90l.

W @NE W i m M (Application filed Max. 18, 1901.)

F. P. WISEBURN &. L. BUHLE.

MEANS FOR SECURING HANKS.

(No Model.)

'iliarrnn Sta-inns Pawn r anion.

FRANK P. W'ISEBURN, OF BROOKLYN, AND LOUIS BUHLE, OF lVOOD- HAVEN, NEYV YORK.

MEANS FOR SECURING HANKS.

SPE- JZFZEATZON forming part Letters "Eatent No. 677,488, dated July 2, 1901.

Application filed March 18, 1901. serialllo. 51,613. (No modelil To a, whom it may concern.-

Beit known that we, FRANK P. Wtsnnnnn, residing in the city of New York, borough of Brooklyn, county of Kings, and LOUISBUHLE, residingat \Voodhaven, Queens county, State of New York, citizens of the United States, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in cans for Securing Hanks, of which the following is a specification sufficient to enable others skilled in the art to which the invention appertains to make and use the same.

Our invention relates to samples of tobacco in the leaf when composed of a plurality of hanks or hands bound together atthe shanks, and is designed to prevent fraudulent tampering with the hanks or hands and the substitution of others in place of hanks or hands originally bound together to form a sample.

The essential feature consists of a sample composed of several hanks or hands of leaftobacco, the hands of which are tightly bound together and held against either lateral or longitudinal displacement by a hand drawn taut and pierced by spurs which penetrate through the overlapping ends of the band and into the shanks of the hanks or hands below, as hereinafter described and claimed specifically.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a top view of the end of a bundle of sample tobacco secured according to our invention; Fig. 2, a transverse section upon plane of line 2 2, Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a similar View showing a modification; Fig. 4, a side elevation of the parts shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 5-, a longitudinal section upon plane of line 5 5, Fig. 1; Fig. 6, a view of a double spur or staple; Fig. '7, a view of a single spur, and Fig. 8 a view of the binding-strip.

In selecting samples of tobacco for inspection and labeling it is customary to select four or more hanks or hands, as they are called, each hank or hand consisting of a number of leaves bound together at their stems by strips of tobacco. The bundle of selected hanks or hands is first tied with cord or twine and then bound around with the tape by which the marking-card is secured, wax being used to seal the tape and card. The whole operation is slow and laborious and calls for skilled labor, and even when the latter is employed the results are not uniform or entirely satisfactory, since the bundles lack compactness, strength, and security, it being possible for skilful but dishonest persons to withdraw one or more of the hands and substitute other grades of tobacco. \Ve positively obviate all danger of thus fraudulently tampering with the samples by our method of fastening, as hereinbefore set forth, at the same time by applying our fastening by aid of the apparatus described in our Patent No. 674,148, dated May 14, 1901, producing a stronger, smaller, neater, and more compact and uniform bundle than has heretofore been attained.

The band B is preferably though not necessarily made of relatively thin sheet metal and should be flexible though inelastic. The band B is wrapped around the ends t t of the hanks or hands T T in such manner that its ends I) Z) overlap each other, in which position they are secured by spurs S S, which are driven through the said overlapping ends I) Z) of the band B and through underlying portions of the endst i of the hanks or hands T T, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3.

Where the bundle of tobacco is to be used as an inspectors sample, the certificate-card O is placed upon the top of the hands or hanks before the ends I) b of the band B are lapped over and secured by the spurs S S.

Any number of spurs S may be used, according to the number of rows or layers of hanks or hands T T included in a bundle. Thus in the drawings four samples are shown with their ends t t superposed in two rows,

and two spurs are used, each one penetrating two of the ends 11 t of the hanks of tobacco. If the bundle consists of a single row of hanks, a single spur would sufiice, or if more than two rows were included in the bundle then a spur for each rowwould be provided, the essential feature in this respect being the combination,with the flexible non-elastic band,of one or more spurs penetrating the underlying ends of the samples in such manner as to prevent the withdrawal of the latter without serious injury to the bundle or at least to the portion withdrawn. In this connection it is also to be understood and noted that should one or more hands be forcibly withdrawn from a bundle the presence of the spur or spurs would eifectually bar the insertion of others in lieu thereof.

WVhere two or more spurs are used,they may be united in staple form, as shown in Figs. 2 and 6, or the required number of single spurs may be used, as indicated in Figs. 8 and 7, the result being the same in either case.

o are aware that peculiarly-formed staples have been used to tighten and secure a perforated band passed around a single bundle or bale of material, as in United States Patent No. 663,423; but neither the staples nor band therein shown could be used for our purpose, since they would be practically useless, if not detrimental. Thus a previously-perforated band would be inoperative in connection with the shanks ofthe hands or hanks of tobacco, since thelatter may vary in size and shape, adifficulty which we overcome by the use of a band which is not perforated until drawn taut around the shanks of the hands or hanks when the sharp spurs are driven through its overlapping ends and into and through the shanks of the hanks or hands underneath. Again, the staple described in said patent is to be used in connection with the perforations in the band as a lever in tightening the latter, one of its limbs being made longer for this purpose and in application tending to distribute and disarrange the contents of the bundle. Hence its penetration into the bundle is incidental to its function as a lever and does not prevent the withdrawal of the component parts of the bundle. If applied to the shanks of a series of hanks or hands of tobacco to be included in a sample, the lever-staple would obviously injure the shanks it penetrated when used as a lever, and even when driven home it would not lock and hold all the component parts of the bundle, as do the spurs used by applicants to pierce the taut retaining-band and penetrate the shanks of all the hanks in the sample. It will thus be seen that the results attained by our unperforated band and retaining-spurs'are new and important and apply specially to samples of tobacco. In the first place variations in size or shape of the shanks of the hanks or hands are compensated for. In the second place the component parts of the sample are securely and positively locked in position against longitudinal displacement by the spurs used to penetrate and secure the band, a feature of unusual practical importance in the tobacco trade and one never heretofore attained. Even if a hand or hank of tobacco were to be removed forcibly against the resistance of the penetrating spur the latter would act as a barrier to prevent the substitution of the shank of another hank or hand in place of the shank of that fradulently removed, so that it is practically impossible to tamper with the sample as made by us without danger of detection.

We herein use the term spur to designate a spur, spike, or pin formed with an individual head,as in Figs. 3 and 7,01 the equivalent thereof-t'. e. a plurality of spurs, spikes, or pins united to a common head, as the staple shown in Figs. 2 and 6, the protruding spur in each case being of sufficient length to penetrate through the overlapping ends of the band and through the underlying shanks of the hands or hanks of tobacco.

WVhat we claim as our invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

A sample package of tobacco consisting of a plurality of hanks or hands of tobacco-leaf the shanks of which are in proximity, a band tightly surrounding said shanks and having overlapping ends, and a spur or spurs penetrating said overlapping ends and each of the underlying shanks, whereby the latter are held individually and collectively against displacement so as to prevent the removal or substitution of a hank or hand as herein set forth.

FRANK P. WISEBURN. LOUIS BUHLE. \Vitnesses:

D. W. GARDNER, JAMES A. WILSON. 

